As part of our Life Education program we are discussing ways to strengthen our strategies to resist smoking cigarettes. However, our community now faces another challenge - being tempted by e-cigarettes.
Read the following article from The Age newspaper.
In pairs find the "for and against" arguments. What facts used to support their point of view?
Who is the targeted audience/reader? What is the role of the journalist? How has the journalist written a balanced article?
What is your reaction to the article? Lolly flavours put e-cigarettes on the teen menu November 13, 2014
Health experts are concerned lolly-flavoured e-cigarettes that contain no nicotine could be sold to school children. Photo: Joe Armao
Lolly-flavoured e-cigarettes that contain no nicotine and could be sold to anyone, including school children, are available in Victoria.
Tobacco companies are exploiting the ambiguity of Victoria's e-cigarette laws to pitch these "vaping" toys to a junior market, according to health experts.
Quit Victoria tobacco control policy manager Kylie Lindorff said that while nicotine-laced e-cigarettes were banned in Australia, the sale of non-nicotine versions – often colourful and lolly-flavoured – was completely unregulated in Victoria, meaning even children could buy them over the counter.
"We're incredibly concerned about that. We'd like to see the sale of these products banned outright," Ms Lindorff said.
But nightclub owner Alexander McDonell, managing director of The Joystick Company, which produces a brand of flavoured e-cigarettes, said the ingredients found in the products were no different from those found in commonly consumed food.
"I'd go as far to say it's a healthy thing to do. It's definitely a healthier alternative to smoking," he said.
Mr McDonell sells the products through tobacconists and service stations and also in several of his CBD nightclubs.
He said using an e-cigarette was no different from inhaling the "steam or vapour you get when you're ironing your clothes".
But the products have not been tested through regulatory bodies and the long-term effects of inhaling key ingredients vegetable glycerine and propylene glycol are unknown.
Mr McDonell said that as a precaution, labels on Joystick packaging and on the website advised sale to adults only, and recommended against use by pregnant and nursing women.
But Ms Lindorff said anecdotal evidence suggested that teenagers were vaping in Victoria, and studies from Poland and US reported an "alarming" jump in the uptake of e-cigarette use among teenagers.
"Unfortunately, it was a fad for a while but what's happened now is big tobacco companies have come and bought up these industries," she said.
Ms Lindorff said Quit was "very alarmed" given big tobacco's marketing expertise. E-cigarette marketing was similar to traditional tobacco adverts of the past, she said.
"They're the same ploys the tobacco industry used to use: sex and sport. We are quite concerned that it will re-normalise smoking more broadly," she said.
But Stephen Jenkins, director of Nicoventures, an e-cigarette company established by British American Tobacco, said there was strong evidence from the United Kingdom that e-cigarettes were used almost exclusively by smokers as a quitting or reduction aide.
"Smokers are actually making the decision themselves to move this way. They're not being forced," he said.
Dr Jenkins called for the establishment of a regulatory framework looking at the standards introduced in Europe.
He said said Nicoventures did not sell e-cigarettes in Australia. "Electronic cigarettes should not be targeted at anyone under 18," he said. "Nicoventures has held preliminary discussions with the [Theraputic Goods Administration] but has not made a formal application to license an e-cigarette or any other product in Australia."
* Open this pdf to read more information about e-cigarettes.
The books we shall be reading this term are: Benny and OmarLockie Leonard- Human TorpedoIce breaker
Everyone: Each week you will need to choose one of the following jobs "summariser" or "researcher". Each week alternate the job. Please ensure half of your group does one job and the other half does the other job.
1. Summarizer: Your job is to prepare a brief summary of today’s reading. Your group discussion will start with your 1-2 minute statement that covers the key points, main highlights, and general idea of today’s reading assignment.
2. Researcher: Your job is to dig up some background information on any relevant topic related to your book.
Weekly role: Remember, each week you will do only one of these jobs. Use the grid to keep track.
1. Questioner/Discussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book. Don’t worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read.
2. Connector: Your job is to find connections between the book and you, and between the book and the wider world.
3. Illustrator: Good readers make pictures in their minds as they read. This is a chance to share some of your own images and visions. Draw some kind of picture related to the reading you have just done.
4. Travel Tracer: When you are reading a book in which characters move around often and the scene changes frequently, it is important for everyone in your group to know where things are happening and how the setting may have changed.
5. Vocabulary Enricher/Word Wizard: The words a writer chooses are an important ingredient of the author’s craft. Your job is to be on the lookout for a few words that have special meaning in today’s reading selection.
6. Literary Luminary: Your job is to locate a few special sections or quotations in the text for your group to talk over. The idea is to help people go back to some especially interesting, powerful, funny, puzzling, or important sections of the reading and think about them more carefully.
Now that you have organised the roles let's get started! Look at the front and back cover of your book and use the "book mat" to discuss: Pictures: What are the pictures telling me?
Text: What ideas about the book do I get from the text?
Feelings: How do the pictures and words make me feel about the book?
As part of our Life Education program we are discussing ways to strengthen our strategies
to resist smoking cigarettes.
However, our community now faces another challenge - being tempted by e-cigarettes.
Read the following article from The Age newspaper.
In pairs find the "for and against" arguments.
What facts used to support their point of view?
Who is the targeted audience/reader?
What is the role of the journalist?
How has the journalist written a balanced article?
What is your reaction to the article?
Lolly flavours put e-cigarettes on the teen menu
November 13, 2014
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/lolly-flavours-put-ecigarettes-on-the-teen-menu-20141113-11m553.html#ixzz3J1TlWeFI
Health experts are concerned lolly-flavoured e-cigarettes that contain no nicotine could be sold to school children. Photo: Joe Armao
Lolly-flavoured e-cigarettes that contain no nicotine and could be sold to anyone, including school children, are available in Victoria.
Tobacco companies are exploiting the ambiguity of Victoria's e-cigarette laws to pitch these "vaping" toys to a junior market, according to health experts.
Quit Victoria tobacco control policy manager Kylie Lindorff said that while nicotine-laced e-cigarettes were banned in Australia, the sale of non-nicotine versions – often colourful and lolly-flavoured – was completely unregulated in Victoria, meaning even children could buy them over the counter.
"We're incredibly concerned about that. We'd like to see the sale of these products banned outright," Ms Lindorff said.
But nightclub owner Alexander McDonell, managing director of The Joystick Company, which produces a brand of flavoured e-cigarettes, said the ingredients found in the products were no different from those found in commonly consumed food.
"I'd go as far to say it's a healthy thing to do. It's definitely a healthier alternative to smoking," he said.
Mr McDonell sells the products through tobacconists and service stations and also in several of his CBD nightclubs.
He said using an e-cigarette was no different from inhaling the "steam or vapour you get when you're ironing your clothes".
But the products have not been tested through regulatory bodies and the long-term effects of inhaling key ingredients vegetable glycerine and propylene glycol are unknown.
Mr McDonell said that as a precaution, labels on Joystick packaging and on the website advised sale to adults only, and recommended against use by pregnant and nursing women.
But Ms Lindorff said anecdotal evidence suggested that teenagers were vaping in Victoria, and studies from Poland and US reported an "alarming" jump in the uptake of e-cigarette use among teenagers.
"Unfortunately, it was a fad for a while but what's happened now is big tobacco companies have come and bought up these industries," she said.
Ms Lindorff said Quit was "very alarmed" given big tobacco's marketing expertise. E-cigarette marketing was similar to traditional tobacco adverts of the past, she said.
"They're the same ploys the tobacco industry used to use: sex and sport. We are quite concerned that it will re-normalise smoking more broadly," she said.
But Stephen Jenkins, director of Nicoventures, an e-cigarette company established by British American Tobacco, said there was strong evidence from the United Kingdom that e-cigarettes were used almost exclusively by smokers as a quitting or reduction aide.
"Smokers are actually making the decision themselves to move this way. They're not being forced," he said.
Dr Jenkins called for the establishment of a regulatory framework looking at the standards introduced in Europe.
He said said Nicoventures did not sell e-cigarettes in Australia. "Electronic cigarettes should not be targeted at anyone under 18," he said. "Nicoventures has held preliminary discussions with the [Theraputic Goods Administration] but has not made a formal application to license an e-cigarette or any other product in Australia."
*
Open this pdf to read more information about e-cigarettes.
*
Welcome to our literature circle!
Benny and OmarLockie Leonard- Human TorpedoIce breaker
Everyone: Each week you will need to choose one of the following jobs "summariser" or "researcher". Each week alternate the job. Please ensure half of your group does one job and the other half does the other job.
1. Summarizer: Your job is to prepare a brief summary of today’s reading. Your group discussion will start with your 1-2 minute statement that covers the key points, main highlights, and general idea of today’s reading assignment.
2. Researcher: Your job is to dig up some background information on any relevant topic related to your book.
Weekly role: Remember, each week you will do only one of these jobs. Use the grid to keep track.
1. Questioner/Discussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book. Don’t worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read.
2. Connector: Your job is to find connections between the book and you, and between the book and the wider world.
3. Illustrator: Good readers make pictures in their minds as they read. This is a chance to share some of your own images and visions. Draw some kind of picture related to the reading you have just done.
4. Travel Tracer: When you are reading a book in which characters move around often and the scene changes frequently, it is important for everyone in your group to know where things are happening and how the setting may have changed.
5. Vocabulary Enricher/Word Wizard: The words a writer chooses are an important ingredient of the author’s craft. Your job is to be on the lookout for a few words that have special meaning in today’s reading selection.
6. Literary Luminary: Your job is to locate a few special sections or quotations in the text for your group to talk over. The idea is to help people go back to some especially interesting, powerful, funny, puzzling, or important sections of the reading and think about them more carefully.
Now that you have organised the roles let's get started!
Look at the front and back cover of your book and use the "book mat" to discuss:
Pictures: What are the pictures telling me?
Text: What ideas about the book do I get from the text?
Feelings: How do the pictures and words make me feel about the book?
Possibilities: What do I think might happen?